COMPETITION TERMS & CONDITIONS
1. The Promoter is The Nerd Mama Blog (http://www.thenerdmama.com) with prizes supplied by Soup (www.thesoup.com.au).
2. Submission for this prize constitutes acceptance of these Terms & Conditions. All entry instructions and competition information published by the Promoter form part of these conditions. Entry is via the Internet only.
3. Entry to the competition is open to all residents of Australia over the age of 18.
4. The competition commences on Monday, 3rd October 2011, 7:00pm AEDT and closes on Sunday, 16th October 2011, 11:59pm AEDT. Any entries outside of this timeframe will not be eligible.

Entry to the Competition

5. To be eligible for the prize(s), persons must submit a response to the blog post on http://www.thenerdmama.com telling us in 100 words or less “What are some creative ways to improve efficiencies in your household?”.

6. Incoherent or multiple entries will be disqualified.
7. Winners will be chosen by random number draw. This is a game of chance, not of skill.

Prizes
8. Three prize winners will each be awarded in order of draw, either one (1) Panasonic Rice Cooker (model number: SRMS183) valued at RRP $209AUD or one of two (2) Panasonic toothbrushes (model number: EWDS11), valued at RRP $32.95AUD. The total prize value for this competition is AU$274.90. The use of each prize is subject to the issuer’s Terms & Conditions.
9. Prizes are not transferable, exchangeable, or redeemable for cash. The prizes must be taken as offered and cannot be varied. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any tax implications that may arise from the prize winnings. Independent financial advice should be sought. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any variation in the prize value. The Promoter accepts no responsibility if the prizes are lost or stolen. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any damages or injuries that occur due to usage of the prizes. The Promoter reserves the right to replace any prize with another of equivalent retail value without notice.

Judging
10.Winners will be determined by a random number draw which will take place on Monday, 17th October 2011. The winners will be contacted by email and announced on http://www.thenerdmama.com on that day.

11. Winners will have three (3) days to respond to notification email. If contact cannot be established within this time, The Promoter reserves the right to re-draw for that prize.

12. Prizes will be posted to the winners at the address nominated by them, via email correspondence with the promoter within fourteen (14) days of the winners responding to initial notification email. The prizes will be being posted from Soup (www.thesoup.com.au).

After giving this quite a bit of thought, I’d have to say the best ways to be efficient are to not fall into the “lazy” trap and to find ways to make repetitive tasks.. well, more efficient!
As humans these days, I think it had become very easy to get lazy. If you shake that off it’s surprising how much you can get done!
As for making tasks more efficient, it’s amazing what you can do with some research. Anything from cleaning tips, cooking tips, anything you need! Give it a try, it makes things more fun too!

I use my crockpot a lot, it’s more energy efficient than the oven. Also small things like planning ahead meals and freezing leftovers. Leftovers alone can save me two nights a week where I don’t have to cook. Freezing leftover soup in muffin tins, pop out in ziplock bags, same with herbs, casseroles etc.

Since I have had our 3rd child I have found a roster for school days works well to keep the house running smoothly otherwise the kids sit in front of the tv & Mum is left to dress herself & 3 others. Outside that nap time for my little one is when I get most my work done because whilst he is running around my cleaning isn’t effective at all!.

> THE DINNER DILEMMA
Get each member in the household to write up their top 5 dinner preferences. At the beginning of each week, draw out the 7 winning dishes. The person with the most ideas drawn out for that week is exempt from cooking 🙂

Buy a Dyson vacuum cleaner. With two dogs, 3 teenage sons and a footy loving husband, I spent a LOT of time vacuuming. Now I can do it in one tenth of the time, and I reckon I get 10 times as much up.
Also – Cut dish washer tablets in half, they work just as well as a whole tablet and you can save money towards buying a Dyson

About a year ago we started creating a weekly menu before we constructed the shopping list. It definitely cut down on unnecessary items in the pantry along with the “what are we going to do for dinner?” angst.

My next step is to write up a list of our recipe repetoire – that should cut down the time it takes to come up with the weekly menu as well.

G’day guys. I’ve got a good one for you. Now this is thinking completely out of the box but:
How about: a voice activated note pad?
I’m primarily thinking of a shopping list but something that will convert voice to text and display it on a small LCD screen – about the size of a smartphone.
Think how good this would be if your under a car with hands covered in grease, both hands full measuring something or trying to take a phone number down with no pen?
The uses would be limitless.
You guys own me a beer if it goes into production.

We cook very large stir-fries and pasta type meals so that, with 3 time-consuming kids, dinner can be ready in a flash. The kids get a hand in creating these meals so it gives them the feeling of adding something to the household and that they matter. Rewards are everything so if the kids do their chores on time at the end of a week they get to watch a movie on the big screen (Displayed by a PT-AE4000 Panasonic projector!).